Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday, potentially becoming the first head of state to meet Kim inside the isolated country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday that Iranian meddling in the Middle East could touch off massive new refugee flows to Europe, as they clashed about the future of the nuclear deal with Tehran.

An Iraqi court on Saturday sentenced a French woman to life in jail for membership of the Islamic State jihadist group, an AFP reporter at the courthouse said.

Melina Boughedir was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for "illegal" entry into the country and was set to be deported back to France, but another court ordered her re-trial under Iraq's anti-terrorist law.

Angry protests rocked cities across Jordan overnight against IMF-backed austerity measures including a new income tax draft law and price hikes, hours after the government and unions failed to reach an agreement to end the standoff.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday said it detained 17 people for "undermining" the kingdom's security, in what campaigners have dubbed a sweeping crackdown against activists just weeks before a ban on women driving ends.

The year-old acrimonious dispute between Qatar and its neighbours is forging a "new" Gulf, potentially transforming what was a stable region of the Arab world, experts warn.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was sworn in on Saturday for a second four-year term in office during a special parliament session broadcast live on state television.

At least 12 civilians -- members of the same family -- have been killed in US-led coalition raids on the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, a monitor said Saturday.

A Palestinian man who tried on Saturday to hit Israeli soldiers with his car in the southern occupied West Bank city Hebron was shot dead, the army said.

"A terrorist attempted to run over IDF troops located at the site with his vehicle. In response, the troops fired towards the terrorist, killing him. No IDF troops were injured," an army statement said.

The United States vetoed Friday an Arab-backed UN draft resolution calling for measures to protect the Palestinians but failed to win any backing for its own text condemning Hamas for the violence in Gaza.